Planning for winter pressures

Amid worsening winter pressures for the NHS, there are warnings from health professionals that industrial action ‘could see one of the most difficult starts to the year for health services across the country’. According to NHS England, recent data showed that the number of people in hospital with flu during one week in December rose to an average of 942 each day; almost six times the number compared to the week before. The NHS Confederation has said that an average of 4244 beds were occupied by Covid-19 patients per day in the first week of January, compared to 3927 the previous week.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has announced that 1.4 million more people will be eligible for the antiviral Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir plus ritonavir, Pfizer) if they test positive for Covid-19, following final draft NICE guidance. NICE has recommended Paxlovid for around 3.9 million people who have an increased risk for progression to severe disease from Covid-19. This includes people with certain cancers, people who have had haematological stem cell transplant or who have a haematological disease, and those with liver or kidney disease.